Hello Friends,
Why this section is so dead,i mean australian ,south african wines are so renowned and no body has yet started a serious discussion.
Okay me being a novice let me set the ball rolling with more than generous help from google.

Now you're in my neck of the woods. Well, arm, really. I'm a few thousands kilometers east of the Lucky Country. But the Grange is Australias most sought-after red. Of course, for the price of a bottle you could get a case of something less renowned but excellently drinkable.

My recommendations include Yalumba's Patchwork Shiraz and Wild Ferment Chardonnay, anything with the name Peter Lehmann on the label and the staggering Wolf Blass Grey Labels.

Straying into the harder to find stuff, I was wowed by Kaeslers' " Stonehorse" GSM recently. Massive, power-packed red that smelt like blackberries, coffe and cloves. Dorrien and Stonyfell wines are excellemt as well... only available through wine clubs in New Zealand, so I'm not sure how easy they are to come by.

However, for a distinctly Aussie style, seek ye out a Rutherglen Liquer Tokay or Muscat. Theses babies are aged in tin sheds during the height of an Australian Summer, resulting in some of the most lucious, stupidly drinkable fortified wines on the planet. Morris Liquer Tokay is a good starting point, and the Old Premium from the same winery is considered to be among the best made. I'll tell you when I can afford a bottle. Or two. Other good labels are Cambells, Chambers and De Bortli again. (Their 10-year-old Show Reserve Muscat tin displays around ten gold medal stickers. From a single years worth of shows.) [img]http://www.wines.com/ubb/smile.gif[/img]

I've had some of the nice Rutherglen dessert wines. Also like an Old Jonesy Tawny Port and a Grandfather Port (even better but more expensive.) Recently enjoyed tastes of some Elderton Command Shiraz thanks to Brappy.

Thanks skeeter for putting up such an informative post.
I would like to expand it a little,here is what i found about yalumba patchwork shiraz:

"
With deep soils and chocolatey loams, the Barossa is home to some of the worldâ€™s finest Shiraz. From 25-35 year old vines, Patchwork is a Shiraz of concentrated flavour and aroma. The opportunity to craft a single wine of individuality and personality from a patchwork of soils, aspects, microclimates and cultures was simply too good for the Yalumba winemaking team to pass up. Through rigorous site selection, the winemakers unearth power, elegance, spice and structure â€“ all the elements of an outstanding Barossa Shiraz

That's the Grange, all right. A little further down this page is my notes form a Grange tasting a few months back.

http://www.wines.com/ubb/Forum14/HTML/000672.html

Disclaimer: I'm not a professional wine writer, nor do I ever claim to be. All opinions are mine and may be disputed robustly. Skeeter is open to bribes, so long as they're drinkable. [img]http://www.wines.com/ubb/smile.gif[/img]